JPH11160650A - Picture display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize an extremely lightweight spectacle-type picture display device constituted so that a picture having a sufficiently large visual field can be displayed. SOLUTION: The temple 4 of the frame of spectacles supporting the lenses 1 of the spectacles in front of a face are provided with light sources and light scanners 5 constituted of a movable mirror and set for deflecting a light beam modulated by a video signal and using it for scanning by the movable mirror and outputting the scanning light beam. Besides, they are provided with a first and a second curved mirrors 2 and 3 respectively formed at the left and the right parts of the concave curved surfaces of the lenses 1 on the face side. By the mirrors 2 and 3, the scanning light beams outputted from the scanners 5 are successively reflected and condensed so as to be projected toward the pupils 7 of eyeballs 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image display device, and more particularly, to a small and lightweight spectacle type image display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a light beam modulated by a video signal is deflected to perform horizontal scanning and vertical scanning, and this scanning light beam is projected on a pupil by a projection optical system and formed on a retina to form a scanned image. There have been proposed various image display devices for displaying the image. These types of image display devices have a characteristic that light emitted from a light source efficiently enters the eyes, so that an image display device with low power consumption can be realized.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-100088 discloses that an acousto-optical deflector scans a laser beam in a lateral direction, a galvanometric mirror performs a vertical scan, and an image forming system is constituted by two lenses. A direct-view image display device has been proposed.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-138499 proposes a direct retinal scan display as an image display device incorporated in eyeglasses. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the direct retinal scan display. The direct retinal scan display includes a reflector 101 such as an eyeglass lens, an optical scanner 102, a fiber relay 104, a laser source 105, and a frame 106.
The laser light emitted from 02 is reflected by the reflector 101 and projected on the pupil.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-121256 proposes a direct retinal scanning display device using a planar type image pickup device. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing an optical system of the direct retinal scanning display device. This direct retinal scanning display device includes an optical waveguide 201, a diffraction optical element 202, an optical wedge 203, a deflection system 204, a laser / modulator 205, and an electronic circuit 206, and a light beam from the laser / modulator 205 is deflected. Scanning by the system 204, the optical wedge 2
03, the image is formed on the retina by being redirected to the eyes of the operator by the planar type image pickup device including the optical waveguide 201 and the diffraction optical element 202.

Further, Proceedings of SPIE (No. 2464, pp. 2-13, 1995)
), A virtual image display device has been proposed.
FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing an optical system of the virtual image type image display device. This virtual image display apparatus includes a mirror 301, a beam splitter 302, and an optical scanner 303. The optical system of this device is the same as that used in a conventional liquid crystal display device. Light emitted from an optical scanner 302 is reflected by a mirror 101 and projected on a pupil via a beam splitter 302. ing.

[0007]

However, each of these conventional image display devices has the following problems.

The direct-view image display device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-100088 uses an acousto-optic deflector, so that the overall configuration of the device becomes large and is not suitable for miniaturization and weight reduction.

On the other hand, the direct retinal scan display shown in FIG. 6 can be incorporated in the eyeglasses, but a relatively large scanning or deflection angle is required due to the movement distance of the laser light between the light source and the retina. There were drawbacks needed.

As a means for remedying this drawback, a direct retinal scanning display device using a planar type image pickup device shown in FIG. 7 has been proposed by the same applicant. However, since multiple reflection by total reflection of light in the optical waveguide 201 of the planar type imaging device is used, light that is finally diffracted by the diffraction element and enters the eye and light that is reflected in the waveguide before that In order not to overlap, it was necessary to increase the thickness of the waveguide. For example, in order to display an image at a viewing angle of 30 degrees, the diameter of the diffractive optical element 202 is 2 cm from the eye.
At a distant position, the distance is about 1 cm, and in order not to overlap the adjacent reflected light, when the final incident angle of the reflected light is 60 degrees, the optical waveguide 201 needs to have a thickness of about 3 mm. For this reason, there is a problem in that the lens portion of the eyeglasses becomes heavy, which places a burden on the user.

The optical system of the virtual image type image display device shown in FIG. 8 is the same as that used in a conventional liquid crystal display device, and the device becomes large because a mirror 301 and a beam splitter 302 are used. Further, there is a problem that the light is reduced by the beam splitter 302 and is not used effectively.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to easily display a bright image having a sufficiently large field of view, to have a very light weight without increasing the weight of the lens portion, and to reduce the weight of the eyeglass frame. The optical scanner to be incorporated has a width of 1c.
It is another object of the present invention to realize an image display device that can be incorporated in eyeglasses and used within a distance of m.

[0013]

Therefore, the present invention deflects and scans a light beam modulated by a video signal with a movable mirror on a vine of a spectacle frame supporting a lens in front of the face to output a scanning light beam. An image display device comprising an optical scanner, projecting the scanning light beam to a pupil, and displaying a scanned image formed on a retina, wherein the scanning light is formed on left and right portions of a concave curved surface on the face side of the lens, respectively. There are first and second curved mirrors for reflecting and condensing the beams, respectively, and projecting the beams onto a pupil.

A first curved mirror is formed in the concave curved surface on the face side of the lens near the connection point of the vine, and
Is formed at the front part of the pupil of the concave surface on the face side of the lens.

The distance between the movable mirror and the first curved mirror is set to be equal to or close to the focal length of the first curved mirror, and the distance between the first curved mirror and the second curved mirror is respectively set. And the distance between the second curved mirror and the pupil is set to be equal to or close to the focal length of the second curved mirror.

Further, the focal length of the first curved mirror is set larger than the focal length of the second curved mirror.

Further, the movable mirror is a single silicon mirror that rotates and vibrates in two axial directions, or
It is composed of two silicon mirrors that rotate and vibrate in one axial direction.

Further, a light source in which a plurality of semiconductor lasers having different oscillation wavelengths from each other and an optical waveguide for coupling each input terminal thereof and outputting each input light beam from a common output terminal is formed on a silicon substrate. It has.

[0019]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an image display device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing an optical system of the image display device of FIG. 1 in an enlarged manner.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the image display apparatus according to the present embodiment comprises a light source and a movable mirror on a vine 4 of a spectacle frame that supports a lens 1 of spectacles in front of the face and is modulated by a video signal. An optical scanner 5 for deflecting and scanning the light beam by a movable mirror to output a scanning light beam, and a first curved mirror 2 and a second curved surface respectively formed on the left and right portions of the concave curved surface on the face side of the lens 1. A mirror 3 is provided.

First curved mirror 2, second curved mirror 3
Respectively, sequentially reflects and condenses the scanning light beam from the optical scanner 5 and projects the light beam on the pupil 7 of the eyeball 6. here,
Light beam focusing in the vertical direction is similar to that in the horizontal direction. Further, the first curved mirror 2 is formed in the vicinity of the vine connection point of the concave curved surface on the face side of the lens 1, and the second curved mirror 3 is formed.
Are formed in front of the pupil of the concave curved surface on the face side of the lens 1. Further, the distance between the movable mirror and the first curved mirror is set to be equal to or close to the focal length of the first curved mirror, and the distance between the first curved mirror and the second curved mirror is set to the respective focal length. Is set equal to or near the sum of
In addition, the distance between the second curved mirror and the pupil is set equal to or close to the focal length of the second curved mirror. Further, the focal length of the first curved mirror is set larger than the focal length of the second curved mirror.

In this embodiment, the optical scanner 5 includes a light source and a movable mirror, and deflects and scans a light beam whose luminance has been modulated by a video signal in synchronization with the video signal by a movable mirror. A scanning light beam scanned at high speed in the horizontal and vertical directions is output.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of the optical scanner 5. The optical scanner 5 includes a light source 9 including a semiconductor laser that emits visible light that is intensity-modulated by a video signal, a collimating lens 10 for converting the light from the light source 9 into a parallel or nearly parallel light beam, The movable mirror 1 is moved from two silicon mirrors that rotate and vibrate around one axis to scan the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively.
1 and torsion beams 12 and 13 made of silicon that respectively support the movable mirror. Each of these torsion beams 12, 13
Although not shown, the other end is connected to a silicon frame integrally formed with the movable mirror 11 and the torsion beams 12 and 13. Therefore, when the diameter of the scanning light beam is selected from about 1 mm to about 5 mm, the optical scanner 5 has a size of about 1 cm or less, and can be mounted on the vine 4 of the spectacle frame. In addition, since the movable mirror 11 and the torsion beams 12 and 13 supporting the movable mirror 11 are manufactured integrally with silicon, the specific gravity of silicon is as small as about 2.33, and there are few defects, so that a light and strong mirror can be obtained.

For example, as a silicon movable mirror for scanning in the horizontal direction, a silicon mirror having a surface of 2 mm square and a thickness of 50 μm is supported by a silicon torsion beam of the same thickness to thereby set the resonance frequency to the horizontal scanning frequency. , For example, 16 kHz. The silicon mirror for scanning in the vertical direction has the same structure, and scans the light beam reflected by the mirror for horizontal scanning.
By supporting a silicon mirror having a size of 0.5 mm and a thickness of 500 microns with a torsion beam made of silicon having a thickness of 50 microns, the resonance frequency can be reduced to the vertical scanning frequency, for example, 60.
Hz.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing another example of the configuration of the optical scanner 5. The optical scanner 5 includes a semiconductor laser 9 that emits visible light whose intensity is modulated by a video signal, a collimator lens 10, a movable mirror 11, and a torsion beam 1.
2, 13 and movable mirror 11 and torsion beams 12, 13
And a silicon-made intermediate support member 14 integrally formed. In this case, the movable mirror 11 rotates and vibrates in two axial directions, so that only one mirror is required. The movable mirror 11 has a size of about 1 cm or less similarly to the optical scanner 5 in FIG. .

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of the light source 9 of the optical scanner 5 shown in FIGS. The light source 9 includes a silicon substrate 15, three semiconductor lasers 16 that emit light having different oscillation wavelengths corresponding to the three primary colors of light,
An optical waveguide 17 is connected to each of these input terminals and outputs each input light beam from a common output terminal.
The optical waveguide 17 is manufactured by growing and etching glass having different refractive indexes on the silicon substrate 15 and has a function similar to that of a communication optical fiber. For example, the laser beam can be propagated in a single mode by setting the cross-sectional size of the central portion made of high refractive index glass to 10 μm square and the thickness of the peripheral portion made of low refractive index glass to 15 μm. The collimator lens can generate a light beam with high parallelism. Light input from three semiconductor lasers 16 for color display is collected in one optical waveguide and output from a common output terminal. In addition, by integrating on a silicon substrate 15, a small and lightweight color light source of 1 cm 3 or less is realized, and an optical scanner 5 that can be mounted on the vine 4 of the spectacle frame together with the movable mirror 11 for optical scanning is realized. it can.

Next, the operation and effect of the projection optical system in the image display device of the present embodiment will be described.

In the image display apparatus of this embodiment, the light beam modulated by the video signal is deflected and scanned in the horizontal and vertical directions by the movable mirror 11 in the optical scanner 5 in synchronization with the video signal. Is output as
The scanning light beam is reflected and condensed by the first and second curved mirrors 2 and 3 formed on the left and right portions of the concave curved surface on the face side of the lens 1, respectively, and is projected on the pupil 7 of the eyeball 6. And focuses on the retina 8
Display the scanned image on top.

In this embodiment, two curved mirrors 2 and 3 formed on the left and right portions of the concave surface on the face side of the lens 1 are used as a projection optical system for projecting the scanning light beam of the optical scanner 5 onto the pupil 7. Therefore, even if the deflection scanning angle of the optical scanner 5 is small, the light enters the pupil 7 by making the focal length of the curved mirror 3 in front of the pupil 7 smaller than the focal length of the curved mirror 2 close to the optical scanner 5. The deflection angle of the light beam can be made larger than the deflection scanning angle of the optical scanner 5, and an image with a large visual field can be formed and displayed on the retina.

For example, the focal length of the first curved mirror 2 is 4.5 cm, and the focal length of the second curved mirror 3 is 1.5 c.
By setting m, the scanning angle of the light beam viewed from the eyes is tripled. This corresponds to displaying a large image having a viewing angle of 30 degrees when the scanning angle of the light beam emitted by the optical scanner is 10 degrees.

The two curved mirrors are respectively formed on the left and right portions of the concave curved surface on the face side of the lens 1 of the spectacles, and the weight of the curved mirror itself is small. A light-weight spectacle-type image display device is obtained.

In the image display device of the present invention, a mirror partially transmitting light, for example, a half mirror is used as a second mirror.
It is clear that the curved surface mirror portion allows the display image to be superimposed and displayed on the outside scene through the lens.

[0034]

As described above, the image display apparatus according to the present invention sequentially scans the scanning light beams from the optical scanner by the two curved mirrors formed on the right and left portions of the concave curved surface on the face side of the spectacle lens, respectively. Since the light is reflected, condensed, and projected on the pupil 7 of the eyeball 6, the deflection angle of the light beam incident on the pupil can be increased even if the deflection scanning angle of the scanning light beam is small. An image can be formed on the top and a large screen can be displayed.

The two curved mirrors are formed on the right and left portions of the concave curved surface on the face side of the lens of the spectacles, respectively. Since the weight of the curved mirror itself is small, the volume and the weight are not increased, and the whole is sufficiently lightweight. An eyeglass-type image display device is obtained.

Further, since the deflection scanning angle of the scanning light beam can be reduced, the rotational vibration angle of the movable mirror of the optical scanner can be reduced, and the reliability of the optical scanner can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an image display device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing an optical system of the image display device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating a configuration example of an optical scanner 5 of the image display device of FIG. 1;

4 is a configuration diagram showing another configuration example of the optical scanner 5 of the image display device of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a light source 9 of the optical scanner 5 of FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram illustrating a configuration example 1 of a conventional image display device.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram illustrating a configuration example 2 of a conventional image display device.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram illustrating a configuration example 3 of a conventional image display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 lens 2 first curved mirror 3 second curved mirror 4 vine 5,102,303 optical scanner 6 eyeball 7 pupil 8 retina 9 light source 10 collimating lens 11 movable mirror 12,13 torsion beam 14 intermediate support 15 silicon substrate Reference Signs List 16 semiconductor laser 17, 201 optical waveguide 101 reflector 104 fiber relay 105 laser source 106 frame 202 diffractive optical element 203 optical wedge 204 deflection system 205 laser / modulator 206 electronic circuit 301 mirror 302 beam splitter

Claims (6)

[Claims] An optical scanner for deflecting and scanning a light beam modulated by a video signal with a movable mirror and outputting a scanning light beam on a vine of a spectacle frame supporting a lens in front of the face; In an image display device that projects on the pupil and displays the scanned image formed on the retina,
An image display apparatus comprising: first and second curved mirrors respectively formed on left and right portions of a concave curved surface on the face side of the lens and sequentially reflecting and condensing the scanning light beams and projecting the scanning light beams onto a pupil. A first curved mirror formed on the face-side concave curved surface of the lens in the vicinity of the vine connection point, and a second curved mirror formed on a front portion of the pupil of the face-side concave curved surface of the lens; The image display device according to claim 1. 3. The distance between the movable mirror and the first curved mirror is set to be equal to or close to the focal length of the first curved mirror, and the distance between the first curved mirror and the second curved mirror is respectively set. Is set equal to or near the sum of the focal lengths of
3. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the second curved mirror and the pupil is set to be equal to or close to a focal length of the second curved mirror. 4. The focal length of the first curved mirror is set larger than the focal length of the second curved mirror.
The image display device as described in the above. 5. The mirror according to claim 1, wherein the movable mirror is formed of one silicon mirror that oscillates in two axial directions, or two silicon mirrors that oscillates in one axial direction. Image display device. 6. A light source in which a plurality of semiconductor lasers having different oscillation wavelengths from each other and an optical waveguide for coupling each input end thereof and outputting each input light beam from a common output end are formed on a silicon substrate. Claims 1-5 provided with
The image display device as described in the above.